Megatron didn’t stop swinging his mace. He refused to. He, the master of deception, was tricked into working with his accursed enemies! By his future self, no less! What would happen to him in the 50 years between now and Galvatron’s initial time-travel?! All these factors just fueled Megatron’s rage. “TRAITOR!” he roared as he swung. “VILE LIAR!”
“Enough!” shouted Galvatron as he grabbed the mace by the chain. “What’s the idea?!”
“You contacted Rodimus and praised Silver,” explained Soundwave as he observed from a safe distance.
“…Which one overheard my call?!” snarled Galvatron.
“It doesn’t matter! You tricked me into allying with the Autobots!” roared Megatron.
“Because you wouldn’t listen to me if I just flat-out told you to ally with them!” retorted Galvatron as he threw the mace aside. “You’d probably shoot me if I suggested such a thing when we first met!”
“Right now, that sounds like a capital idea!” Megatron aimed his fusion cannon and fired. Galvatron rolled out of the way.
“GALVATRON, TRANSFORM!” A backpack swung up and released a set of wings. His arms joined in front of his chest and his hands sunk into the forearms as his cannon maneuvered itself between the arms. His toes and heel spurs then folded down and the legs swung backwards as an assembly folded from the top of the wings to the feet and became thrusters. A canopy then covered his head, and he completed his transformation into a Cybertronian jet. He then barreled into Megatron and flew upwards, taking his past self with him. Megatron tried to steady his aim, then Galvatron pointed down, forcing Megatron to fall off. “CYBER KEY POWER!” The Cyber Key then inserted itself between the wings. Once it turned, the wings angled themselves forward. The tips then deployed blasters and fired rapid rounds while the cannon charged a massive shot. The cannon fired and Megatron was pushed into the mountainside, creating a new cave. Galvatron transformed and landed at the cave entrance before grabbing Megatron and throwing him down the mountain. Once he landed back at Autobot HQ, his future self then picked him up. “If you’re done ranting like a child, you should listen!” snarled Galvatron. “When you’ve been fighting Unicron for 50 years and you’re one of the last Decepticons, your priorities tend to shift! Tell me, how can the Decepticons call themselves an empire when it’s down to four?! Even the Autobots are down to five! Our mother died! Dion died! Animatros died! Velocitron died! Gigantion died! Mobius is dying! CYBERTRON DIED! …Everything that we ever cared about died too soon. SO TELL ME WHY I SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE DECEPTICON EMPIRE ANYMORE?!”
“And the Empties on Cybertron?! They no longer mean anything to you?!” roared Megatron.
“Like I said, Cybertron died in my time! What IS there to fight for other than survival?! And, on the slim chance we DO beat Unicron, what good is there to continue old grudges?! Megatron, there are moments where you’re so tunnel-visioned that you can’t see the bigger picture!”
“…At this point, I’m not sure we’re in the same art gallery!” Megatron then leapt at Galvatron.
“NO!” called a voice as a fireball flew between them. The two Decepticon Lords turned to see Amy. “No fighting, no trying to kill each other, or we’ll be killed in an instant! Megatron, is this one of those things where you obsess over something to cover up the real issue?!”
“The real issue,” growled Megatron, “is that in 50 years, I forget what made us a Decepticon in the first place!”
“Really? I thought it was stopping Unicron at any cost. Last time I checked; he’s getting in the way of your goals. So, quit acting like a spoiled brat, calm down, and start picking Unicron’s brain! You wanted to give Optimus Unicron’s coordinates within Mobius, right?!” Megatron growled before calming down. He glared at Galvatron.
“This isn’t over,” he warned. He then turned to Soundwave. “Soundwave, return to base. I’m sure we’ll get the full story in time.”
“As you command, Megatron,” replied Soundwave as he opened a Bridge portal back to the Decepticon Moon Base. He then entered the portal and left the area as Galvatron and Amy went inside, leaving Megatron alone to brood.
“He has a point, you know,” remarked Optimus as he and Rodimus watched the whole thing. “That WAS manipulative of you two.”
“Tell me, would YOU have approached Megatron with the idea without our help?” asked Rodimus.
“There ARE some Autobot principles that matter, one of them being the truth.”
“If I came to you with the truth…”
“Then I wouldn’t believe you? Did you know that Vector Prime himself warned me and Blackarachnia about your arrival? He told us that he sanctioned your journey because the future was too ghastly for him to leave alone.” Rodimus stared at Optimus in wide-eyed surprise.
“…He never told me that!”
“…You serious?”
“Yes! Vector Prime never told me anything! …Though, come to think of it, my connection to the Matrix isn’t…all there.”
“He didn’t contact me through the Matrix. He just popped out in front of me. …Actually, no, he first flew into Blackarachnia’s trap lines.”
“Must you tell him that?” asked a voice. The two Primes whirled around to see Vector Prime standing behind them.
“Do you need to do that?!” protested Optimus.
“Yes.”
“…You bots really DO work in mysterious ways, don’t you?”
“Just how Primus built us. Look, can you really afford to waste time over this? While deplorable, Rodimus’ actions WERE correct.”
“Vector Prime, a question,” interjected Rodimus.
“Yes, my child?”
“I would have thought that any deviation to the timeline would mean that me, Galvatron, and Silver would fade from existence.”
“So why are you still here? Simple, multiverse theory can give you a headache.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning that your timeline is now an alternate future.”
“…Then our journey here…?!”
“IS for something. While you will still return to that ghastly future, I believe you’ll find the way to defeat Unicron here in this timeline and carry that knowledge to yours.”
“…You mean there’s actually hope for our time?!”
“There’s hope for every timeline. But, to answer your question, yes, for yours, there is.” Rodimus, for the first time in a long time, felt a genuine smile tug at the corners of his mouth. “However, right now, the future is clouded. If you lot really want Unicron beaten, you must fully configure the Matrix with all of our knowledge. Yes, that includes the Fallen, Liege Maximo, me, and Alpha Trion.”
“…But, the Fallen and Liege Maximo…!” protested Optimus.
“They have knowledge that you need,” replied Vector Prime. “I know the Fallen fell under Unicron’s thrall once, but he used that knowledge to help us in the long run. Liege Maximo, while he’s THE ultimate liar and manipulator, is also the Ultimate Strategist. He will find a way to manipulate Unicron to his defeat as he did in the past.”
“…And you and Alpha Trion?”
“…I’m afraid that, if we give our knowledge to you, we will cease to exist.”
“Okay, I may not be his best student, but I don’t see Alpha Trion going for that option.”
“And you’re right on both counts, Optimus,” replied a voice. Another yelp from Optimus and Rodimus and they turned to see Alpha Trion standing behind them with his arms folded.
“How did you…?!” spluttered Optimus.
“We Thirteen have built-in Space Bridges that can take us anywhere in the universe,” explained Alpha Trion. “In any event, I cannot condone joining with our brethren just to fight a battle!”
“A battle against Unicron!” argued Vector Prime. “You and I both swore an oath to stop him!”
“And we’ve done that! Another use of the Three Powers will tear the universe asunder! That IS why we had them destroyed!”
“Well, Unicron’s coming back, and we need a back-up plan should he get another body!”
“Optimus and Megatron must play their hand correctly so that he DOESN’T get a new body!”
“Er, still here, Alpha Trion,” interjected Optimus. “Besides, I don’t think Megatron’s in a team-player mood.”
“…Perhaps I should have a talk with him. It might get him to remember the mission.”
“Er, I think you’re gonna need…!” Optimus’ request for Alpha Trion to get a local alt-mode was interrupted as Alpha Trion vanished. “…Okay, I guess you’re not gonna be a robot in disguise.”